Prosecution rests in Jose Padilla terrorism trial

MIAMI, FLORIDA — Federal prosecutors rested their case Friday against Jose Padilla and two co-defendants charged with participating in an Al Qaeda support cell.

The jury has listened to nearly nine weeks of testimony from 22 witnesses and tapes of dozens of FBI wiretaps collected during an investigation that lasted years.

Defense lawyers for Padilla, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi will begin their case next week, with the trial likely to continue into August.

Padilla, a 36-year-old U.S. citizen and former Chicago gang member, was originally accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb." The Miami case does not mention the "dirty bomb" allegations.

He was arrested in May 2002 at O'Hare Airport and held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant before he was transferred to the Miami terror support case.